Latimer Gets $1.2 M In State Funds For Local Flood Mitigation

by Judy Silberstein

(April 17, 2008) Larchmont Village, Mamaroneck Village and City of Rye will each be eligible to apply for up to $400,000 in flood mitigation funding through the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), a branch of New York State government.

NY Assemblyman George Latimer received confirmation of the $1.2 million for flood mitigation in his district this week and announced the outcome on Tuesday, April 15. He explained that the three communities were singled out because of their vulnerability to significant flooding both inland and along their coastlines.

Mr. Latimer described the ESDC funding “as consistent with what I was trying to do” with a bill he introduced last December with another Westchester assemblyman, Richard Brodsky. That bill, had it been funded, would have begun with $10 million for flood control projects to be shared statewide in its first year.

The ESCD funds can also help communities when they apply for further support by “strengthening their hands with the county or the federal government,” noted Mr. Latimer. “It’s everything I could have hoped for in the first year of state funding for flood mitigation.”

Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld, responded to the news, thanking Mr. Latimer and outlining the many efforts underway to get help for perennial flooding problems along Pine Brook Drive.

“George Latimer has participated in many of our Pine Brook flood meetings and we’re grateful for his work on behalf of the Village. He knows the issue well and the $400K we will get will help as we move forward.”

Larchmont has been working with engineering consultants from Dvirka and Bartilucci to develop mitigation proposals that are sufficiently detailed to qualify for grants or other funding to support projects that may end up costing more than $10 million to implement. (See: Pine Brook Flood Fix: Bigger Culvert, Wider Channel, $12M?) The Larchmont Village Board has applied for funds from the federal government (via Congresswoman Nita Lowey’s), Westchester County, and New York State.

In February, Mayor Feld wrote to Governor Eliot Spitzer, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senator Suzi Oppenheimer and Mr. Latimer asking specifically for help to pay for engineering services. “I was clear that we will have millions in capital costs related to any improvements, but for now we would like help to continue funding our feasibility study,” she said.

The mayor’s efforts appear to be paying off. In addition to the news from Mr. Latimer, she has received encouraging signs from other sources.

“Senator Bruno’s office called last week to tell me they had secured $100,000 for this year,” she reported. In February, Congresswoman Lowey announced she had succeeded in obtaining a $125K grant for Larchmont.An application to the Westchester County Flood Task Force has been accepted for further consideration, and on Wednesday, Larchmont had a second meeting with the group when it came to tour the mitigation project area.

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